Your career progression, Pay progression.

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Hey,

I thought I would make this post as next month will be my 3rd year in I.T

I got into I.T cause I had a passion for it and couldn't do anything else when I decided to take it seriously back in 2008.

So here is my career progression so far.


In 2008 I started doing Microsoft certifications self paced for a little over a year.

In mid of 2009 I started looking for work and none picked me cause I had zero work experience even though I had the certifications and the knowledge and the skills.

So in November 2009 I contacted several I.T service companies and offered to work for free and a company took me in on a volunteer basis as a Junior Tech.

I was there for a couple of months (2 months)

Then I volunteered at another company as a systems engineer on a part time basis while looking for paid work but still could not get a paid job.

Then around March of last year I got a offer full time at a great large Firm as a Junior System Engineer and pay was £ 22.5 k.

Now I was offered a role as a Intermediate Technical Consultant with a pay of £ 28.1 k

So far I have learned alot and I have heck of a long way to go to achieve more of my dreams.

So was wondering how other members career and pay progressed so far.

And what you guys think of the way I progressed?

 

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I think you should be very happy with what you are currently earning and your current progression.

I have been in IT for 8 years, I peaked at £22,500 as a contractor, I was then taken on permanently by the same company but they reduced my salary down to £17,800 which is a big hit. There was talk of once I reach 6 months permanent that it would go up, but that turned out to be a lie and I have been told that the salary won't be increased. I then took on a secondment of being the IT Helpdesk Supervisor for 10 months with no pay increase but I was hopeful for career progression but that also didn't happen as once the full time supervisor job came up, I was told that I was not going to be successful with my application as they needed someone to hit the ground running, and they have employed someone externally earning around £26k.

I have colleagues in the team that are earning £19,500 that ask me for help on quite a few occasions, when I asked about the salary differences amongst the team, I was told that they should not be discussed and are due to length of service.

Obviously £17,800 is not the average salary or anywhere near it for someone with 8 years IT Experience and a compTIA A+ certification.

 

Salary discussions are always a touchy subject because there will always be people who think they deserve more (and occasionally they are right). The way I look at things is this, if you're happy on the salary you're being paid then that's the salary that's right for you. If you're not happy with your paycheck then you have the right to look elsewhere, especially if you think that actually your current place isn't paying you what you're worth.

I often hear people complain that person X earns more than them but actually don't do much beyond moaning about it (often to the wrong person).

The only person who is really in control of your salary is you and unfortunately you're really the only person you can rely on to ensure that you're earning what you want to be earning.

My general rule of thumb as far as salary goes is this, aim to earn no less than your age (for example if you're 21 then you want to be earning 21k, if you're 35 then you want to be aiming for 35k), now obviously that's not always possible and often times you can expect to earn far more. It depends on your area of expertise as well as the locale. Don't expect to be earning mega bucks if you work out in the backend of no where but also don't accept earning peanuts in the city if everyone else is earning more because of London weighting.

 

well said

 

Ive progressed very little in my career.
At the age of 31 I earn £26k a year doing a 2nd line job for bespoke software, with little or no actual MS / Networking skills. I want to do more with my life but feel that to do so will involve a fairly large pay cut.

 

I'm way behind my age to pay ratio. It would be awesome to earn £24,000 per annum instead of £17,000 per annum.

Who do I have to blame? Only myself. I am slowly beginning to realise this as I get older. If only I listened when I was younger, and not wasted my time.

 

BB88 - I feel your pain and when I looked at my CV the other day I realised how much life I have wasted by not educating myself and instead just gaining experience through 'doing' it, unfortunately at the age of 30 I am still earning £18k which if you are meant to be earning your age, then I am 12 years behind.

I do accept that in many ways I myself am to blame for this, but at the same time, the jobs are just either not out there, or in other cases can only be earned by learning in the workplace, of course many agencies recruiting look at the letters and try to match them against CVs without actually looking to see if the candidate could be suitable without those letters.

I have no linux or mac experience, as I am a Windows man.

 

So download and start playing with a Distro.

FYI until this year I was only a Windows man, I now use Linux (Ubuntu) as my main OS (although having an issue with 12.10 atm but that's another matter).

As far as roles out there are concerned, there are plenty and again you're right when you say you are to blame for your career not progressing at the rate you want it to, if there weren't the roles out there to earn a decent wage then no one would be.

I don't mean to be harsh but really the only person out there in control of your destiny is yourself, no ones coming to you with offers in excess of your age on a plate, if you want the decent job\package you need to go out there and fight for it, prove to everyone out there that you deserve it and by doing that you stand a better chance of progressing than just sitting back and accepting that it's ok to be earning what you are.

Again not wanting to be harsh but I just couldn't live on a wage of 18k at 30, hell I couldn't live on a wage of 40k at 40, you have to want it (show me the money!!!).

 

I use Linux as my primary operating system at home, and have done for many years now. I use Linux at work for my machine, and just RDP/VNC in to whatever servers I need. Everything else at work is Windows only, bar the odd LAMP server, and few Macs. Take a look at Ubuntu Server to get you started. Perhaps set up a File Share, Printer Share, or LAMP Server.

I use Arch Linux and Linux Mint as my two distributions of choice.

This is a good starting site for Linux as well, helps understand the CLI Linux Survival :: Where learning Linux is easy

Unfortunately, due to my location, work opportunities are not great. Sure I could commute further, or even move, but at this moment in time, I am contempt, and that's the habit I need to break!

Here's a short clip that I like watching:

Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! Now if you know what you're worth then go out and get what you're worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain't you! You're better than that!​

 

Well I have an interview at 9am this morning, hopefully to get life moving in the right direction.

Oh and with the £18k at age 30, your right that it makes life hard to plan much as its peanuts, I am trying to crack back in, living in Leicester i cannot find much.

 

Simon is bang on, too many people in IT just sit there and moan that they are underpaid yet do nothing about it and expect it all to be handed to them (I'm talking in general, not directed at anyone here!).

I've been in it for about 9 and a half years now and my salary has gone up roughly four fold over that time.

Whilst I've been lucky and things have gone my way most of the time, I guess one of the main reasons is that I've wanted it and put the effort in to get to where I am.

And when I say put the effort in I don't mean I've been studying or hell even working hard, I've just been working smarter doing things I know will help me in the long run.

Had a little blip in one sense around 18 months ago due to redundancy in a public sector job, won't bore people with the story but looking back now it was probably the best thing to happen to me.

See this argument never washes with me as I live in the arse end of nowhere where there really are no decent jobs

So how do/did I work round that? I looked for jobs further afield, have spent periods renting a room in another town during the week whilst keeping my home here (only did this for 5 months) and now have an employer that has me at home most of the week with 1 or 2 nights away, paid for by them, to go into an office.

I've never had a commute less than 40 minutes/25 miles.

I know I've been lucky with things, right places, right times, with the right things on the cv to get me these opportunities, but at the end of the day you've got to want it and go after it!

 

the best way to get a pay increase is to job hop

 

I'd agree with that, you've either got to change roles or companies to get the big increases usually.

 

Monkey thank you for sharing that with us all... It gives me a new belief that my time will come as i am working hard for it

 

I find this topic really interesting, its a great insight and motivator for anyone reading this thinking that IT is the place to be to earn mega bucks without working hard! I think the lesson is that you can earn mega bucks, but you've really got to work your ass off and dedicate not only your working life, but often your personal life as well.

My story is that I got into the IT world around 6 years ago at the age of 20, starting on a on lower figure then anyone has mentioned in this thread. In that time I have progressed within the same company, passing exams and learning new technologies along the way. Looking back now my salary has increased by around 280%, and although I do believe I have hit the 'salary ceiling' in the company I work for, I am happy with it, and I think that's the key to all this, its all about having a healthy balance.

On a side note, I do think 50% of what has happened to me has been right place, right time, but its all well and good someone giving you an opportunity, but you really have to take it by the horns because if you don't there's another 100 people behind you that will!

 

Well I have had my interview this morning which lasted 2 hours including 3 tests, (technical, phone and asymmetric) so will find out in a week how that went.

 

No worries, this sort of thing is something I'm pretty passionate about for various reasons so always happy to talk about it.

Don't like banging on about my own details out in the open but it's to a bad story as such about what can happen, and how, to get moving onwards and upwards, so feel free to pm if you want to know anything.

I'll reiterate again, personally it's about working smarter and positioning yourself rather than working your absolute ass off for someone.

You are not going to magically get paid a shed load more in your current role for doing a good job, end of the day that's what they are paying you to do anyway ;). Look at where your next position may be, is it a promotion or transfer internally, is it at a new company, and position yourself so that you look like the dogs doodahs when that job comes around.

I'll freely admit I'm not the hardest worker, but I am damn good working in the area I do. It probably does help though that have moved on from pure techy/support stuff now, in those roles you really do have to move about to get the big money.

 

What is your current role if you don't mind me asking?

I recommend you pick up something like CentOS/Red Hat and learn that.

 

My earnings have been various values throughout my IT career, my max earnings were ~10x my starting salary.

Whats an asymmetric test ?

 

I am currently working on a 1st line helpdesk... I had been the supervisor for 10 months on an interim basis but wasnt getting paid any extra and each time i asked about whether it would go from interim to permanent, they said that i was doing them a favour.

Thanks for recommending CentOS/Red Hat, I will take a look tonight.

Asymmetric tests are very hard to explain what they are, I believe there is no right or wrong answer, it's all about a logic approach to how you would solve a problem.